On Tuesday 19 July, the College held our inaugural Women in STEM lunch. This event was an absolute success and I’d like to acknowledge the hard work done in preparing and hosting the event by our STEM Leaders Lakmi, Olivia, and Archer, and teachers, Adrienne Donoghue (Learning Leader: Digital Technologies) and Jacinta Devlin (Learning Leader: Science). More information about the event will be shared soon.

At this lunch, each table was named after a female leader of STEM. The leader featured on my table was Alison Harcourt AO, a prominent mathematician who grew up and still lives here in Victoria. Her biography intrigued me as her work has contributed greatly to society, and in ways that we tend to take for granted.

What sparked my interest when reading her biography was that Harcourt contributed greatly to the field of linear programming, a topic I had taught for many years when I taught VCE Further Mathematics. It was great to make that link and to know that a Victorian woman contributed to methods used by businesses, transport logistics, shift rostering, and even to assist in cancer radiotherapy. An example of linear programming’s use is that it can help determine the minimum number of staff required to work to help maximise the profit made in a business.

So, as I do when anything sparks my interest, I go down the rabbit hole that is Google to find out more about Alison Harcourt.

Harcourt was born in Colac (in country Victoria) in 1929 and attended the University of Melbourne as one of only two women studying mathematics. She went on to work as an academic at the University of Melbourne and still teaches there on a casual basis.

In 1960, in her early days at the University of Melbourne, Harcourt co-authored a paper on linear programming. The authors of the paper were AH Land and AG Doig (Harcourt’s maiden name). It was not unusual for authors to only use initials for their first names, but Harcourt did it because she was a woman, reflecting, “We were really scared that if we identified ourselves as women that there would be a delay in the assessment of the paper”.

Imagine having to hide the fact that you were a woman to have someone take your work seriously!

This is why it is extremely important to celebrate the achievements of women in STEM as their contributions have made a valuable impact to all aspects of our daily lives. It was so promising to see many students involved in our STEM lunch and to welcome back past students who were either studying or working in STEM related fields.

Although the participation of females in STEM is still quite low, it is great to see our students showing a keen interest in pursuing careers in STEM. And Harcourt’s advice to these students, “Do it. To any young girl and even young men, my advice is, if you can, don’t be pushed by time. Do the subject that you like, even if it is going to take you one or two years more. And if that is mathematics, do it. There is a great joy in Mathematics”.

Yes, there is definitely great joy in Mathematics. If you would like to learn more about Alison Harcourt, who was also the “2019 Senior Victorian of the Year” and was also made an Officer of the Order of Australia, then please watch this short clip.

Karen McMullen
Learning Leader: Mathematics